Engineering & Mining Journal

AUG 2017

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AUGUST 2017 • E&MJ 83 www.e-mj.com
OPERATING STRATEGIES
Construction Ltd. (KPCL), to be on-site to
offer part-time assistance during the plate
assembly and on two other multiday visits
to assist with the backfi ll process. The en-
tire project, however, started years earlier
with AIL Mining's early design/specifi ca-
tion collaborations with Hatch, the proj-
ect's design consultants.
Software Speeds Technical
Documentation Management
Ontario, Canada-based MacLean Engi-
neering has been developing innovative
underground mining equipment solutions
for more than 40 years, expanding its
products and support services into 23
countries on six continents.
MacLean's product line ranges from
ground support with their 900 Series
platform and utility bolters, to ore fl ow
with secondary reduction drills, mobile
rock breakers, and water cannons, to
explosives handing vehicles, shotcrete
sprayers, and MineMate support vehicles
and attachments.
The company supports its interna-
tional market presence with a global dis-
tribution network of branches and deal-
ers, a 24/7/365 parts support hotline,
a technical support hotline, an online
technical publications portal, an online
order tracking portal and the provision of
recommended spares packages. It also
provides a complete suite of multilin-
gual technical publications in a variety of
formats to meet the needs of customers
around the globe.
Keeping its more than 1,000 sets of
separate manuals for operators, training,
maintenance and parts continuously up-
to-date and accurate is an arduous task
— not to mention updating parts man-
uals daily and translating manuals into
French and Spanish. However, MacLean
Engineering recently reported that after
implementing a new suite of technical
documentation software, its publishing
time has been reduced by half.
Manual Labor
Maclean's technical publications man-
ager, Bruce Mackereth, was faced with
a hurdle from day one. The existing sys-
tem used for publishing all of MacLean's
technical publications — a combination
of Word and CatBase — could not cope
with the level of output needed.
"When I started at MacLean, there was
a backlog of some 219 sets of new manu-
als outstanding, which equated to around
4,300 hours or two years of work using
our old system," said Mackereth. "Cus-
tomers were left waiting to receive their
manuals well after they had received their
machines, which frustrated both our cus-
tomers and us. We were widely recognized
for our manufacturing excellence, but our
ability to create and update manuals was
a signifi cant and pressing challenge."
"By being constantly in catch-up
mode, trying to get through that back-
log, we couldn't focus on developing new
manuals or being more innovative with our
documentation. Instead, we had a system
that not only took an inordinate 20 hours
to create one manual, but a system that
didn't even allow our staff to have access
to digital content online," said Mackereth.
Solution: Write Once, Reuse Everywhere
MacLean wanted a solution that would cut
publishing time, substantially reduce the
cost of updating content, reuse data more
The use of AIL Mining's Super•Cor Round
reinforcing structure allows construction of the
tunnel's 14.5-m-long bevels without the need for
internal bracing during the backfi ll process.
AIL's unique design connects heavy-duty welded wire
soil reinforcement mats to a series of connection
anchor strips, integrated with the exterior sides.
As a global supplier of underground mining equipment, Maclean Engineering is tasked with keeping its more than
1,000 sets of separate manuals for operators, training, maintenance and parts continuously up-to-date and accurate.